1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with a cutting head and an ultraviolet light irradiation device.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Ink jet recording apparatuses equipped with an ink head for discharging ink onto a recording medium, such as a sheet of paper, and a cutting head for cutting the recording medium have been known in the art, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,121,750. The ink jet recording apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,121,750 is equipped with a guide rail extending in a left-right direction, additionally, an ink head and a cutting head are coupled with the guide rail. The ink head and the cutting head move in a left-right direction along the guide rail. Furthermore, the ink jet recording apparatus described above is equipped with a platen for supporting the recording medium. The ink head and the cutting head are disposed opposite to the platen.
Additionally, an ink jet recording apparatus that discharges ultraviolet light curable ink from the ink head is known in the art, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,232,212. The ink jet recording apparatuses may also be equipped with a device for irradiating ultraviolet light to cure the ink on a recording medium which has been discharged from the ink head. The ultraviolet light irradiation device may irradiate ultraviolet light over the entire region of the recording medium in the left-right direction.
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,232,212, an ultraviolet light irradiation device that is attached to an ink head and is carried with the ink head in the left-right direction is also known in the art. The aforementioned ultraviolet light irradiation device is capable of irradiating ultraviolet light on a desired portion of the recording medium, thereby suppressing unnecessary irradiation of ultraviolet light.
A review of the prior art reveals that problems may occur if the ultraviolet light irradiation device is added without any contrivance to the ink jet recording apparatus equipped with the ink head and the cutting head. Specifically, in the ink jet recording apparatus described above, the ultraviolet light curable ink may adhere to the platen. Thus, as a result, the cut-out operation performed by the cutting head may not be properly performed due to the ink cured on the platen.